This invention relates to improvements in poultry processing methods and equipment of the type which cut open or "split" gizzards and remove the outer covering or "skin" from the gizzards. Poultry gizzards that have been extracted from chickens or other poultry with gut and stomach still attached thereto usually are moved through a processing path, and while moving through the path the gut and stomach are removed from the gizzards and the gizzards are split and loose material removed therefrom, and the gizzards are subsequently peeled.
In the past, gizzards have been removed from poultry and processed separately, as by removing the gut and stomach from the gizzards by hand, cutting the gizzards, and urging the outer skin or peeling of the gizzards into spiral peeler rolls so as to strip the outer covering from the gizzards. Some of the prior art documents that disclose gizzard processing equipment are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,159,872, 3,406,425, 3,411,828, 4,057,875 and 4,073,040 of C. J. Hill and 4,074,390 of P. Meyn. The various equipment that has been used in the past takes advantage of the size and density of the gizzard in comparison to the gut and stomach attached thereto, by supporting the gizzard and allowing the entrails to be suspended therefrom, and then moving the supported gizzard through the various processing steps where the entrails are removed, the gizzards split, cleaned and peeled.
While the prior gizzard processing equipment has been successful to some extent, the gizzards are not always oriented correctly as they move through the equipment, resulting in the entrails not being properly cut from the gizzards and the gizzards not being split at the proper location on the gizzards. Also, the differences in size, shape and texture of gizzards being processed by the prior art equipment appear to cause malfunctions in the equipment, resulting in improperly processed gizzards.